For Texans anytime soon. If I had to pick one human to speak for me after everything he has done for all Americans, it would be Mattress Mack. We know that distance is not a serious factor in preventing people from doing anything. If people want to gamble they should be made to travel long distances.

Is legalized sports gambling in the state of Texas a no-brainer? My good friend, Houston sportswriter @LopezOnSports, discusses my position on the matter, and you may be surprised where I stand. Find this exclusively on @Gallerysports.

Full Story➡️https://t.co/ToZSBCscFd pic.twitter.com/JiG6ae1WyA

— @MattressMack (@MattressMack) February 7, 2023

Love Mack, but his arguments are pretty weak and outdated.

Texagsubscriber said:

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For Texans anytime soon. If I had to pick one human to speak for me after everything he has done for all Americans, it would be Mattress Mack. We know that distance is not a serious factor in preventing people from doing anything. If people want to gamble they should be made to travel long distances.

Is legalized sports gambling in the state of Texas a no-brainer? My good friend, Houston sportswriter @LopezOnSports, discusses my position on the matter, and you may be surprised where I stand. Find this exclusively on @Gallerysports.

Full Story➡️https://t.co/ToZSBCscFd pic.twitter.com/JiG6ae1WyA

— @MattressMack (@MattressMack) February 7, 2023

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You need a meme to tell us you didn't read the post? Maybe you simply can't read.

Sports betting being illegal is one of the worst things about Texas. So lame.

It's the prostitution, increased drug use, increased crime rates that it would bring...

Do we really want that as well?

Charles Hickson Knows said:

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It's the prostitution, increased drug use, increased crime rates that it would bring...

Do we really want that as well?

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Wut? They're talking about legalizing sports betting, not building more Flying J's.

Microwave Onions said:

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Love Mack, but his arguments are pretty weak and outdated.

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No they actually are not

Charles Hickson Knows said:

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It's the prostitution, increased drug use, increased crime rates that it would bring...

Do we really want that as well?

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Legalizing online sports betting that already happens illegally leads to more hookers?

Yeah you're gonna have to back that up with more than just your opinion.

pointer74 said:

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Microwave Onions said:

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Love Mack, but his arguments are pretty weak and outdated.

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No they actually are not

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Read the article again, then explain if you think they are strong and timely arguments.

They had me at reducing property taxes. I support almost any measure to address this issue.

He's right.

Are you tired of the # of despondent, "down on their luck" and homeless people invading your city streets?

Gambling is only going to exacerbate that. Mack at least has the means to have professionals handle his wagers for him. Most sports gamblers don't have the first clue what the odds they are even betting into are.

The mile radius around every casino and/or sports arena will look like Biff's from Back to the Future 2 within a decade.

There's a plethora of options for people who want to bet on sports to bet on sports. Don't make it easy for more idiots to gamble away their life savings. You think it doesn't impact you, but it does.

On a related note buddy of mine while at college gave up recreational drug use because even though at his very upper middle class Liberal Arts University the negative impacts of drugs ( addiction, homelessness , prostitution ) were not front and center. He figured he was being part of the problem by supporting the illegal drug trade

Charles Hickson Knows said:

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It's the prostitution, increased drug use, increased crime rates that it would bring...

Do we really want that as well?

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I'll start my own state, with blackjack and hookers

Proposition Joe said:

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He's right.

Are you tired of the # of despondent, "down on their luck" and homeless people invading your city streets?

Gambling is only going to exacerbate that. Mack at least has the means to have professionals handle his wagers for him. Most sports gamblers don't have the first clue what the odds they are even betting into are.

The mile radius around every casino and/or sports arena will look like Biff's from Back to the Future 2 within a decade.

There's a plethora of options for people who want to bet on sports to bet on sports. Don't make it easy for more idiots to gamble away their life savings. You think it doesn't impact you, but it does.

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So we need to protect idiots against just this one thing? Drug use and mental health are the root of the homeless problem FYI.

Also we are only protecting the people in our state not the other 36 states that have legalized gambling. And we are also not protecting the ones who can travel to OK or LA. We are also not protecting the ones who have an internet connection. Who exactly are we protecting again?

I actually read it thinking he was going to express the "tired, old (but entirely true)" argument that gambling preys on the poor, but he actually puts forth a relative new, and surprisingly weak argument against.

His main argument is that it should be somewhere else so that you have to put effort in and thus not be compulsive... not a strong argument. You can't say that we don't want it in our home, but be fine with it elsewhere. Do the people in Lake Charles not deserve the same treatment as Texans? It's either bad for both, or OK for both.

I personally do think gambling preys on the poor. I think it always fails to make the impacts that are promised. I also would like to see a Texas politician explain exactly how things like these are going to "offset property taxes", when those property taxes are not collected by the state, but by local taxing authorities.

So is this still proposed as a ballot proposition, or are they finding ways to do it legislatively? I'll be voting against if it goes to ballot.

rootube said:

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They had me at reducing property taxes. I support almost any measure to address this issue.

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I'm all for property tax relief, but I suggest you press your politicians to stop just throwing this out there ( because it obviously resonates) without explaining how they are going to do it.

Property taxes are collected by local tax authorities (school districts, hospital districts, cities and counties for fire and police, etc.)

The state can increase the homeowners exemption, they can send us a refund check from the surplus, but local authorities set local tax rates, and local tax districts set property values.

Can the state regulate those powers? Set limits? Yeah, but then you have another problem. If the state does those things, your local hospitals, schools, fire departments, etc. lose money. Some can adjust, some can absorb it, some cannot. Specifically, most rural services absolutely cannot. Is the state going to offset those revenue short falls? If so, how long can the state sustain that support?

It's a vexing problem that is very layered and complicated, and like most issues in our country right now, the solutions cut very differently in Austin, Dallas, and Houston than they do in Abilene, Amarillo and Brownsville.

Proposition Joe said:

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He's right.

Are you tired of the # of despondent, "down on their luck" and homeless people invading your city streets?

Gambling is only going to exacerbate that. Mack at least has the means to have professionals handle his wagers for him. Most sports gamblers don't have the first clue what the odds they are even betting into are.

The mile radius around every casino and/or sports arena will look like Biff's from Back to the Future 2 within a decade.

There's a plethora of options for people who want to bet on sports to bet on sports. Don't make it easy for more idiots to gamble away their life savings. You think it doesn't impact you, but it does.

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LOL

rootube said:

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Proposition Joe said:

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He's right.

Are you tired of the # of despondent, "down on their luck" and homeless people invading your city streets?

Gambling is only going to exacerbate that. Mack at least has the means to have professionals handle his wagers for him. Most sports gamblers don't have the first clue what the odds they are even betting into are.

The mile radius around every casino and/or sports arena will look like Biff's from Back to the Future 2 within a decade.

There's a plethora of options for people who want to bet on sports to bet on sports. Don't make it easy for more idiots to gamble away their life savings. You think it doesn't impact you, but it does.

---

So we need to protect idiots against just this one thing? Drug use and mental health are the root of the homeless problem FYI.

Also we are only protecting the people in our state not the other 36 states that have legalized gambling. And we are also not protecting the ones who can travel to OK or LA. We are also not protecting the ones who have an internet connection. Who exactly are we protecting again?

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You're protecting the person that can walk up to a kiosk on Friday night at the ballpark and gamble away his paycheck. Again. And again. And again. You say that it doesn't impact you, but then in a few years you turn around and complain about how run down the area has gotten. The two aren't unrelated.

It's like having an all you can drink night at the bar. Should we have to protect people from themselves? No, but we also shouldn't make it insanely easy for everyone to make really poor decisions.

Look, I worked in the industry for over a decade. I've seen both the good and the bad of it. Your common bettor doesn't really have a clue what he is doing and would be just as well off flipping a coin, but they'll convince themselves that with their countless hours wasting away in front of the TV that they're "actually up overall". Even Mattress Mack was smart enough to employ those who know what they are doing. And these are the educated ones that can actually figure out how to fund an account or find a local. Open that up to the masses and you're just asking for cities to get run down at a rapid pace.

I'm all for sports gambling, but it's not something that needs to be made easier for people.

Oklahoma and Louisiana are depressing **** holes. Don't do that to Texas.

'More parlays, more gays' is the slogan those that oppose sports betting have been using to keep the blue hairs voting against it